Children reveal their dream for millennium green

The project - to provide an open green space for everyone in the town to mark the year 2000 - was boosted by the donation of two acres of land by Otley businessman Ronnie Duncan. Now plans have been drawn up to reclaim the semi-derelict site, on the banks of the River Wharfe, incorporating features suggested by residents who gave the project their full support at a meeting last year. But members of the Millennium Association are keen to make sure everyone has their say, including the younger members of the community, who will play an important role in looking after the future of any such green. And pupils at OTLEY WESTGATE FIRST SCHOOL have been drawing up their own plans for what they would like to see in a Millennium Green, and how it should be maintained and developed.

LISA ADLAM went along to meet the children, aged between five and seven, to look at the extensive work they had completed, and listen to the many ideas they had.

SIX children at Otley Westgate First School have a clear message for Countryside Commission bosses who might be reading this article: "We want a millennium green, not a

millennium dump."

The pupils I spoke to, representing each class at the school, all felt that Otley had a very good case to put before those in charge of handing out lottery money for millennium projects.

Oliver Turnpenney and Matthew Morris, both seven years old, were very keen to see the land behind Otley Mills improved.

Matthew said: "It's a forsakened place that nobody likes anymore and people just dump their

rubbish on it."

And Oliver added: "It's polluted and we need it to look nicer. I think it really is worth it. At the moment it's not good for Otley, it looks like a dump and we don't want that. Nobody looks after it now, but we would all help to looking after it."

The youngsters were appaled at the state of the site which they had visited with teachers earlier in the term.

Rubbish and pollution was uppermost in their minds after videoing the site - which covers around two acres alongside the River Wharfe - and they were keen to see it turned into

something they, and the rest of Otley, could enjoy.

Led by deputy head teacher Ruth Ennis and teacher Margaret Brown, a party of 16 youngsters taped their visit to the land at the start of term. They then presented it to a school assembly where everyone was involved in discussing the project.

Each class then went away to consider the scheme, looking at the different issues which would affect the land, people using it and, of course, children.

After lengthy discussions, posters were created by each class on aspects covering safety, access, the environment and maintenance.

A host of bright, colourful and well-informed posters was on display when I visited the school. A great deal of thought and hard work had obviously been put into each one and the enthusiasm from the pupils was easy to gather.

A major concern among all the children was that of safety and security, not only for children using the millennium green, but for everyone.

Matthew said that putting a fence around the green would be very important, as well as fencing off the river. "That would keep children safe and stop them falling into the river.

"It would also stop people going in to tip their rubbish - there's a lot of rubbish there at the moment. People would be stopped from doing that and they would have to take rubbish to the dump."

On their visit to the site, the children told me that cars had been using a footpath and that worried them.

Thomas Crump, seven, said: "We thought you could have separate bit of road because the cars were using paths which are meant for people. We would have to make a different road and a car park, we thought that was really important."

Overgrown parts of the site were quite frightening for some children, especially the smaller ones, said Oliver. "The grass would really need cutting, because it is taller than some of the children and it's full of weeds," he said.

"Children don't feel safe in such a lot of grass and all the weeds. It should be cut down and cleaned up."

The amount of rubbish dumped on the land clearly disappointed all the children who thought clearing it up again would take quite a lot of time and effort.

Rosie Wood, five, said she would like to see the goit made into a pond. "Then you could have ducks, and fish, and frogs and

lillypads there," she said. But Oliver thought that might be a problem. "It's polluted, it would need a lot of work on it. We couldn't tell how deep it was because it's full of rubbish as well," he said.

Animals and nature were quite high on Rosie's list of things she wanted to see in a Millennium Green. "I would like some

flowers there to make it nice and colourful," she said.

Amelia Crossley, seven, agreed. On her visit she had seen quite a bit of wildlife using the area. "We saw lots of ducks coming along in twos, which I liked," she said.

The school would be able to use a Millennium Green for lots of projects, including their work on the popular 'mini-beasts'.

Matthew said: "Although you would clean up the weeds, you would need to keep some brambles for butterflies. Keeping the wildlife there is very important, we saw rabbit droppings on our visit. There might be bats there as well if we clean it up."

Alongside Matthew, Thomas was keen that no trees should be cut down - in fact the pair wanted to see even more. "It would be

really good if we could get some more trees for kingfishers and woodpeckers," they said. "Not many people have seen them."

A Millennium Green would also be a quiet place for people to enjoy their environment,

according to Matthew, who had obviously given the matter a great deal of thought.

"It should be a nice, quiet place for people to go and hear the singing of birds in the morning," he said.

"People might want seats to sit down with their binoculars and watch the birds. A shelter would be a good idea as well in case it rained."

The only problem the youngsters could forsee with a Millennium Green was that of dogs. They were quite adamant that dogs would have to be kept on leads for a number of reasons ranging from dog dirt left on paths, to treading on flowers, to frightening children who were playing by 'jumping up'.

They agreed there would have to be plenty of dog bins and signs to tell owners that their animals must be kept on the lead. Thomas said: "I think you might not be able to bring dogs in because they wouldn't know they weren't allowed to stand on the plants."

Rosie, who has a dog at home, said perhaps dogs could have their own play area. "But people should look after their dogs," she added.

Amelia thought that paths through the green would need improving. "When we went the paths were muddy and a bit slippy. I thought we could make a path or something to level it because it's not safe for people to walk on."

All the children agreed that pathways would need to be safe and also level so that children or adults in wheelchairs could get around easily.

They also thought that tables and seats should be provided because older people quite often enjoyed watching children play and, importantly, adults would be able to keep an eye on their youngsters.

Matthew even suggested that sketch boards could be included in part of the green for people who enjoyed painting and drawing.

Showing the posters they had made, Matthew and Oliver provided a good example of what the land looked like now, and what it could look like in the future. ,Others had created the sort of signs they might want to put up in the green warning people to keep their dogs on leads, and to look after the environment.

Luke Collins, 6, like the other children, thought that equipment and materials used in the green should be natural. "Things should be made from wood and in brown and green, those sorts of colours," he said.

And all the youngsters wanted to see a big sign at the entrance declaring 'Welcome to our Millennium Green'.

They were surprised that some people in Otley weren't as aware of the project as they were and said everyone should get involved in creating and looking after it.

Thomas said: "People might realise how important it is if they went along now, when it is dump, and then thought about how nice it could be and all the changes they could make, like we have. We must do this because then people from other places could come along and see how good it is. It would be very good for everyone."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.